The best and worst of Gloucester in 80 minutes

We saw the best and the worst of Gloucester in 80 minutes against a good Pau side in the European Challenge Cup last Friday.

Some of our defensive sets in that first half when we were driving them back 20-30 metres and then winning a penalty was some of the best defence we’ve had all year but then we conceded four pretty soft tries.

Against a good team with quality players they’re going to make you pay for it.

For us to win that game and get a home quarter-final would’ve been great but that’s not the case and we have to deal with the situation we’re in now.

I’ve been to Connacht before and it’s not a nice place to go on the greyhound track right by the ocean in Galway with the raging winds.

It’s a double edged sword because it’s a big hurdle to go out there and get the win but I’m sure we’re capable of doing that and if we do we’ll have the reward of a home semi-final, which we didn’t have last season.

We have to cast our minds away from Europe for a bit because we’ve got an important block in the Premiership after these two Anglo-Welsh Cup games coming up, starting with Ospreys at home on Friday.

It’s an opportunity for some guys to have a rest and re-group as a squad going into a different competition with less pressure.

I’m sure we’ll see some people get game time in the next two weeks because we won’t want to go back in the Premiership with guys who haven’t played for a long time.

We’re not at panic stations. We’re fourth in the league and in the quarter-finals of the European Challenge Cup but unless we start picking up our performances, learning from our mistakes and becoming consistent the season could run away from us.

All it will take is two or three missed opportunities and that’s the difference between the top four or the bottom four as it is at the moment so we need to learn lessons otherwise come May we’re going to be pretty disappointed again.

John Afoa's leadership and knowledge has been invaluable

John Afoa’s a world class player and he’s been massive for us in the last four years but it’s now been confirmed he’ll be joining Bristol next season.

I think the club have got their money’s worth because he’s played a lot of rugby for us and his leadership and his knowledge has been invaluable.

He’s a very experienced player and the fact he’s still performing at the level he does at the moment and is going to play for another couple of years is testament to him as a pro and how he’s looked after himself.

John’s a great role model for young guys coming through. We’ll obviously miss him but it’s always difficult to retain all your players and we wish him all the best for his future.

He’s a popular member of the squad and a good player so he’s going to be difficult to replace but at his age there was always going to come a point in time when someone else was going to have to come through.

I’m sure Gloucester will make a quality signing to replace him and as one door closes another one will open.